Ireland v France

Clerc steals it for France to deprive unlucky Irish of historic triumph

From perfect day to absolute choker. Only two teams can now win a grand slam in this year's Six Nations Championship and neither of them play in green. The luck of the Irish? It was conspicuously absent at crucial moments in Dublin yesterday but, critically, so was the composure that might have allowed Eddie O'Sullivan's team to mark an historic occasion with an equally memorable victory.

Only a game? Try telling that to those slumped in what O'Sullivan admitted was a "pretty devastated" home changing room. Or the injured captain Brian O'Driscoll. As the clock clicked into the 79th minute of a thrilling encounter, the whole ground thought the Irish had it won. Only seconds earlier they had rumbled deep into the French half, Serge Betsen had been penalised for dragging down the maul and Ronan O'Gara had drilled over the penalty. All around the Gaelic theatre of dreams there was total belief the Gallic threat had been routed.

No one, unfortunately, had advised the French of their bit-part status in this soon-to-be legendary Irish tale. The restart went fatally unclaimed and, suddenly, 17-13 was nowhere near enough of a cushion. Out came the ball to the wing Vincent Clerc, who looked up to see John Hayes and Neil Best in front of him in midfield. Hayes is a huge man but, in terms of foot-speed, it was a fatal mismatch. In the split second it took Clerc to glide past Hayes and Denis Hickie, Ireland's chances of a first grand slam since 1948 had gone.

It was reminiscent of Ireland's World Cup quarter-final defeat to Australia at Lansdowne Road in 1991 when Michael Lynagh saved the Wallabies in the final seconds. The sense of regret this time will probably linger almost as long, although O'Sullivan was reluctant in the immediate aftermath to blame the ever-controversial Kiwi referee Steve Walsh.

Had Walsh not blown his whistle to signal a French knock-on and ignore an Irish advantage a fraction of a second before Geordan Murphy intercepted Pieter de Villiers' pass and ran 70 metres for what could have been a match-changing try, the post-match scenes might have been very different. The same applied when Marcus Horan was tugged back by Clément Poitrenaud as he pursued his chip close to the French line. "The referee didn't decide the game," insisted O'Sullivan, showing considerable restraint in the circumstances.

Maybe he was still thinking about his side's worrying first quarter. An ugly midfield hole appeared in the first seconds, Imanol Harinordoquy nicked a lineout and there was even a heel against the head. When Rory Best illegally grabbed Pierre Mignoni as the French scrum-half prepared to shift the ball from the base of a ruck, David Skrela's second penalty raised further fears that the contest would fail to match the majesty of the backdrop. Imagine a combination of the Stade de France and Cheltenham on Gold Cup day with a playing area comparable in size to the Oval. It made dear old Lansdowne Road feel like a potting shed.

France, too, seemed to be clicking ominously. It went even quieter when Raphaël Ibanez, marauding on the left, charged infield at Murphy's left shoulder and met precious little resistance. Rory Best made a despairing effort to get back but the French captain was long gone.

Luckily for Ireland they had enough two-legged thoroughbreds to drag them back into the game. Gordon D'Arcy had a spellbinding match in the centre, Shane Horgan was never short of influential and David Wallace buzzed ceaselessly on the open-side flank. After a period of consolidation, including two O'Gara penalties, the moment all Ireland craved came in the 32nd minute. O'Gara thought better of a drop-goal and shimmied left where Hickie's dancing feet also took him past a couple of tackles. Horgan and Wallace took it on before the flanker slipped a killer scoring pass to O'Gara.

Denis Leamy's blunder from the restart did not prove costly as Skrela's kicking boots deserted him. Two pottable chances were missed and the half-time margin of 13-11 was slender enough to make Ireland feel they had weathered the storm.

If only. O'Sullivan's men conceded only five penalties, including one free-kick, in the entire game, but could never pull away. They missed the odd tactical trick - against wings of 5ft 10in and 5ft 8in most teams would fancy a diagonal cross-kick or two - but whenever D'Arcy or Hickie had the ball they were electric. True, the young replacement Lionel Beauxis saw a late drop-goal attempt bounce away off an upright but France could have had few complaints in defeat. Ireland at least still have a chance to console themselves here on Saturday week. England should beware a backlash.